The Nationals players had the bat smeared with pine tar and sent it to Guillen.

"It was funny," Guillen said. "I've got a few friends on their side. All those guys were making fun of me. I found out later they made the kid sign the bat. They put the rest. 'To my hero, Ozzie, love you.'"

From his playing days with the White Sox, Guillen remembers seeing LaRoche as a young child. LaRoche's father, Dave, formerly pitched in Chicago.

Guillen noted that he remains a fan of Harper, and he considers the pine-tar issue over.

"To make this thing clear, I don't have anything against the kid," Guillen said. "I don't. Whatever happened, happened. Whatever I say, I say. Whatever my reaction was, it was. But I think this kid is going to be good for the game. No doubt. This kid is very good. We need players like that to come out and play the game right. That's good. I think what he did, maybe he did because he's a kid. I hope he learned from that.

"His manager said I was trying to intimidate him. I wasn't. That was the last thing on my mind. I hope he learned from that and moved on."